Man gets 30 months in prison for beating dog

A Des Plaines man pleaded guilty today to animal cruelty charges for beating a dog outside his house in June.

James Robert Wesolaski, 51, was sentenced to 30 months prison and ordered not to own a pet or live in a residence with any animal for 20 years.

Wesolaski, of the 1100 block of South Wolf Road, entered a guilty plea on felony animal torture and cruelty charges for pinning his small brown dog to the ground in front of his home in early June and punching the dog four or five times as hard as he could, prosecutors said.

After the beating ended, witnesses reported, Wesolaski picked up the limp dog by the scruff of his neck and took it inside, prosecutors said.

Police, called to the home by witnesses, found the dog with swollen, bleeding eyes and broken capillaries, which authorities said indicated the animal had been choked. They said that Wesolaski told police that he was having a bad day and beat the dog because it got outside. Police took the dog, along with two others inside the home, to Northwest Animal Hospital in Des Plaines, where they were treated. Wesolaski was bleeding from apparent dog bites on his hand and face when officers arrived, authorities said.

Authorities also said Wesolaski's June arrest violated his probation from an incident earlier this year in which he admitted to trying to wrest a Taser from a police officer.

Wesolaski did not speak during today’s hearing at the Skokie Courthouse other than to say understood the plea deal. He has been jailed since his arrest.

Judge Lauren Edidin told Wesolaski that his 20-year ban on having a pet is “a very serious part of this agreement.”

The judge also advised Wesolaski to get anger-management counseling and treatment for alcohol abuse.

The beaten dog, a Lhasa Apso named Teddy, has made a full recovery. Teddy and Wesolaski’s other two dogs have been adopted into new homes, Cook County prosecutors said.